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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

🌌 NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Tonight: A Total Lunar Eclipse Credit and Copyright:

Date: 1996-09-26

Tonight: A Total Lunar Eclipse 
Credit and Copyright:

View HD Image

Explanation:

Tonight brings the last total lunar eclipse
visible from North America until the year 2000 - with the Moon
becoming completely immersed in Earth's shadow. The above time-lapse photograph
shows a lunar eclipse that occurred in April 1993. Tonight's eclipse
will begin at 8:12 pm Eastern Daylight Time, with totality extending
from 10:19 pm to 11:29 pm. In North and South America, the Moon
will be just rising at the beginning of the eclipse. In West
Europe and Africa, tonight's lunar eclipse
will be visible before the dawn of September 27th.
The Moon is not expected to become
completely dark - usually it has a slight red glow caused by sunlight refracted through the Earth's dusty atmosphere - but every lunar eclipse is slightly different. This year's eclipse will be enhanced by the proximity of bright Saturn just 3 degrees away.